


Steven's First Word

by addiction1510



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, First Words, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Other, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 18:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4274187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/addiction1510/pseuds/addiction1510
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sitting now, Garnet watched the little boy she so loved sleep. It had been months since Rose had left them, but the wound still felt raw, especially with Pearl and Amethyst acting the way they were. It had taken weeks to even get Pearl out of her room, and that had taken much more than she would have liked. Amethyst pouted for almost as long, but now she was much worse. Her last screaming fit still ran through her head, and it hurt to know the women she loved were hurting so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steven's First Word

Sitting now, Garnet watched the little boy she so loved sleep. It had been months since Rose had left them, but the wound still felt raw, especially with Pearl and Amethyst acting the way they were. It had taken weeks to even get Pearl out of her room, and that had taken much more than she would have liked. Amethyst pouted for almost as long, but now she was much worse. Her last screaming fit still ran through her head, and it hurt to know the women she loved were hurting so.

Sure, she was hurting to, but that was different. She was never alone, and bottled up all of the pain running through her, as her halves made it easier to cope. Someone had to take care of Steven, after all. Greg couldn’t, working at the carwash so often, and that left it up to her.

The little boy stirred, and before he could start crying, she was there, picking him up and holding him as his eyes opened. His face contorted, ready to start crying, and she gave his forehead a brief kiss, though this was just a kiss instead of giving his young mind future vision. There was no telling what that would do to him. A warm hand pressed to her cheek, and her heart felt warmed. It was much easier to ignore the pain trying to take over when she saw his smiling face.

“What’s my little boy doing up, huh?” she asked after a moment, tickling his stomach and making the little boy giggle. He kicked, and she smiled for a moment before taking him to the changing table. He always needed a diaper change after a nap, and she glanced at the clock as she passed. He had slept for six hours, and seemed happy to babble at her.

She set the little one on the changing table, carefully changing his diaper as he babbled and kicked slightly. Once he was in a fresh diaper, she blew raspberries on his stomach, getting a loud laugh out of the little boy. She loved him so much.

“Mama!” Wait, what? If she had a heart, then it would have stopped at that moment. She wasn’t his mom, she wasn’t. That was Rose. Where had he even heard that word enough to…?

“No, no, Steven, I’m not–”

“Mama!” Her hands shook, and she felt as if her body was vibrating, trying to separate but stay together at the same time. Now was not the time to deconstruct into her halves, but she couldn’t keep doing this by herself. She could barely see straight, and carefully picked up the little boy before making her way to the temple, pounding on the door with one hand.

“Pearl! A-Amethyst!” she called, hating the way her voice broke. It was hard to focus, because the insistent babbling filling her ears, one word repeating over and over in her ears. Mama, mama, mama. That wasn’t her. She was just a caretaker, one of four, not his mom. That was Rose. Not her. “I need you!”

The door parted, opening to show Pearl as she rushed out of the temple. Her eyes were wide, and she looked terrified. The door could barely shut before it was split again, showing the purple gem who looked equally terrified.

“What?” they asked in unison, glancing to the little boy in her arms. Neither acknowledged that they had done it, and she was too focused on trying to keep together to say anything about it.

“What happened?”

“What’s wrong?”

“He.. He called me mama,” she said simply, and the other two stared. Pearl looked even more terrified than she had before, and Amethyst stared blankly ahead.

“He… It’s his first word,” Pearl breathed, and she could only nod, because it was true, and it hurt. Tears bubbled behind her glasses, and before she could wipe them away, Pearl did so for her, Amethyst wrapping her arms around her leg.

“Mama!” Steven squealed, excited by their reactions and the appearance of his other two guardians. The taller of the other two paled, and the purple gem tightened her grip on her leg, while Garnet could only shake.

“He did it again,” Amethyst mumbled, and she could only nod, because it hurt so much to hear the word that Rose should have been hearing instead. Pearl wrapped her arms around her waist, her head leaning on her shoulder, and she felt a pulse of pain running through her. Tears started streaking faster, and a sob escaped her before she could help it. “It’s okay to cry, G. We’re still going to love you, no matter what.”

“It’s true,” the pale gem told her, and she felt her legs shaking before she collapsed, falling to her knees and holding Steven close. Garnet hadn’t noticed until they embraced her again, but the other two had let go of her when she fell, holding onto her again the moment they could. A loud sob slipped free, and she felt two pairs of lips against her cheeks, before they started peppering her face with warm kisses,

“We love you,” they said in unison- yet again- and Garnet shook, sobs hiccupping out of her.

“I love you guys too,” she mumbled, feeling their grips tighten. It felt so nice to feel their embraces after so long without it. It had been hard on all of them after Rose had died, and the fusion had done her best not to cry, but now she felt weak, because she hadn’t expected this.

“Mama?”

“Y-you too, Steven.”


End file.
